When I Grow Up
by Eduard Kassel
Summary: Traveling to the future can be far more dangerous than to the past. For Jade Chan it is the knowledge of a fate that even she cannot avoid that threatens her.  ONE SHOT.


**Disclaimer:**_ I do not own Jackie Chan Adventures._

**AN**_: This is my first deliberate one-shot please tell me how I did._

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PDJ Proudly Presents**:**

"**When I Grow Up**"

_By Eduard Kassel_

_Concept Aided by Nocturne no Kitsune_

_Betaed by Zim'smostloyalservan_t

* * *

Why? Has ever there been a question so simple or vexing? It can be valid or invalid depending on context. It can and has been used to reduce people to the roots of their actions and beliefs, to the point where they must either dig and dirty themselves or throw up their hands in surrender. In that way it can easily be called a horrid question, because even if it is answered it is likely to not bring either party contentment.

"Why?" Jade whimpered. She didn't sound like herself; she sounded like a little girl seconds from tears. That was not her, not the adventurer who rolled with the great events she was swept in. Not the clever lass that spotted the patterns and clues trained professionals missed. And certainly not the girl who most would describe as being sneaky enough that she could trick the Devil into setting himself on fire.

No, as she asked that question she didn't feel like any of those things.

* * *

Like most events grand or small it started out simply enough. One of Uncle's competitors was retiring, another antique shop that doubled as a market for magic. The man was even older than him, and Jade had earned a smack by wondering aloud how that was possible.

Anyway, the living fossil had a huge sale to liquidate his stock so he could move to Florida or whatever it is wizards do when they stop with the whole business of magic. Naturally he wasn't selling off the real good stuff, the stuff of legends, to Joe Six Packs trying to add some style to their homes. That stuff was sold behind closed doors to peers and actual magic users.

Uncle was not forthcoming on how the event had played out, and had insured Jade's absence by setting her to a series of mundane tasks with Jackie supervising her. Tohru said it was no loss; the apprentice wizard assured her it was more angry old men and arrogant young men arguing over money than anything mystic. Now she was focused on Uncle's latest acquisition.

It was a clock, small enough to fit on a mantle and with its frame fanning out to give it the silhouette of a gentle hill. Though it literally was a frame, like a construction site before the gaps are filled in, yet it did not seem incomplete. The workings of the clock were bare to the world through the many gaps; forged of brass, copper, and white gold, she had heard. The face was the most solid looking part, but also the strangest. While it was round it held fifteen symbols around its frame, encircling what seemed to be an image of a burning crescent moon. Five hands were affixed to the center and stood motionless, pointing out the time they had been stopped.

It was apparently infamous, an artifact of unknown origin that first appeared in the early days of the Ming Dynasty and had been passed around since. All said that the Burning Moon Clock held powerful magic, but what no one could say. Because from that day in the Ming Dynasty to today no one had been able to set the clock in motion and see what happened.

Hence its infamy – every wizard who possessed it inevitably tried to unlock its secret power and no amount of magic or the attentions of the world's best clock makers had been up to the task. It humbled everyone who tried to rise to its challenge. Uncle himself only bought it to keep some young wizard of dark inclination from buying it, claiming no interest in turning over this stone to see what laid beneath.

His attentions were not the ones the clock was being subjected to, however. Jade Chan smelled mystery and mystery was a well-known gateway into adventure. It had been awhile since the world was in danger, and she could use some excitement to keep her mad skills sharp.

Perched on a chair to be on level with the clock, she fixed it with a determined stare, which was reflected back at her in the glass dome Uncle had placed over it.

"Alright clock, prepare to meet your match," Jade grinned coyly. Reaching out she pulled the clock case closer and all across the shelf. She jerked her hand back as if burned; blinking her eyes as if to clear them, she looked suspiciously at the naked mechanics. She could have sworn the longest hand moved, and her reflection…

"Man I really need some excitement, I'm starting to see things," Jade laughed at her momentary discomfort. It wasn't unprecedented; she did get more irritable and imaginative without a good ole adventure to break up the monotony, but still.

Never mind, she said to herself, just a trick of the light and anticipation.

She lifted the glass gently off the clock and examined it more directly. It was certainly pretty; it shined without the slightest tarnish and the inner workings looked like they would move in perfect sync. Picking it up she realized it was heavier than it looked, and saw her reflection in the white gold crescent, a slice of her face and her right eye.

"Jade!" Uncle called from the next room.

"Waah!" Jade cried in alarm, her arms flying up reflexively. She realized she was still holding the clock and caught herself from sending it flying. The sudden movement of weight was too much for a chair upon a chair though, and sent it sliding off the one below it.

Jade screamed as she tried to break her fall without breaking the clock. She didn't notice the hands begin to spin into a blur as her fall slowed. It was only when they both stopped mid-fall that she noticed silver light emanating from the burning moon. Her first thought was joy that she did what a legion of wizards couldn't – she truly was awesome.

Next came distress as that energy engulfed her and she realized she had no idea what would happen.

Then there was a flash of light, and wind torn darkness.

Light returned in another flash and she found herself finishing her fall.

"Ouch," she cringed, picking herself up off the floor.

"Wait a sec, where's Uncle's clock?" Jade wondered frantically, looking around from her spot on the floor. It wasn't in sight broken or otherwise. Jut great; Uncle was nothing if not protective of his merchandise, and she just sent one on some crazy magic trip.

"Who is in here, Uncle is not – AIYAH!" Uncle griped before yelling as he made his way through the doorway. Jade rolled over to face him, giving her best innocent grin to the shocked man.

"Uh, yeah the clock it kinda-" Jade began.

"Jade?" Uncle asked in a potent whisper. This surprised Jade, who wore a frown as she pulled herself onto her feet. What was his deal? A familiar voice cut off any questions.

"Uncle what is wrong now…" Jackie asked as he followed Uncle in. He stopped dead in his tracks looking at her with widening eyes. Now things were making sense, because this Jackie Chan had a generous helping of gray hair.

Once more Jade Chan came to the future to remind them of how we did it back in the day, Jade grinned as the new adventure began to unfold.

* * *

San Francisco hadn't changed as much as she had hoped, but then again it was night and she might be missing the good stuff. But that was hardly important; it was clear something was wrong. Her Uncles had wasted no time in packing her into their car and driving her to Section 13. They said it was urgent; it had apparently been quite awhile since her last visit to the future, they said something about time travel protocols.

That may have been true, and how awesome if time travel was common enough there were rules about it now, but she was certain there was something more. They were both keeping a sharp lookout, like they were expecting trouble. Whether it was due to her presence or a preexisting problem she wasn't sure.

Well whatever it was she would be sure and help them and her future self out before heading back to her proper place.

She didn't even realize they were arriving at Section 13 until a brick wall opened up wide enough for the car to make a left turn into it. It was pitch black for a moment before floodlights thudded on, presumably blinding Uncle and Jackie while the seat in front of her shielded her. Two men turned into black silhouettes by the light walked by the car, one holding what looked like a hand vacuum cleaner that was making a beeping noise the other holding something smaller and chanting under his breath.

"Clear," they chimed together, having walked the length of the car. The floodlights turned off with more thuds and normal fluorescents clicked on, revealing a garage like corridor with a raised walkway to the left. A dozen agents stood there, though they were an interesting sight. Half were unchanged save for a silver lapel pin she could just make out as the Roman numeral thirteen. The others wore suits still, but wore sabers, katana, and even a bo staff strapped to their body, along with bead necklaces of different colors.

The oldest looking agent, a middle aged man with a crew cut and wild silver side burns, idly jumped down from the walkway and advanced on the car, one hand on the saber he wore. He leaned down to the driver window Jackie had just lowered.

"Mr. Chan, Mr. Chan," he addressed her uncles. Jackie pulled one of the silver XIII pins out of his pocket and held it out in the palm of his hand. The whiskered agent tapped the silver with his index finger and nodded, tension relaxing in his shoulders.

"You already left for the day sir, out of shift arrivals are only for urgent business," the agent stated. He didn't sound upset at the breach of protocol, but more curious as to why it was being breached.

"Well, uh," Jackie seemed unable to find the words to explain, so Uncle whacked him over the head. It was good to see some things never changed.

Jackie, thus encouraged, merely gestured to the back. Jade rolled down her window as the agent stepped over to it.

"Hi," Jade grinned, giving the man a wave. His eyes popped open at the sight of her.

"Captain?" he stuttered. He swung back to face Jackie, grabbing the car door, his expression demanding an explanation.

"Time travel," Jackie supplied. The agent glanced back to Jade, for a bit longer than was polite, as if expecting her to wink out any moment.

"Understood, I'll let Black know you're coming and with who," the agent stated stepping back.

"Thank you, Lt. Wisker," Jackie answered before he began to drive down the tunnel. Jade saw Wisker stare after them in the rearview mirror until the tunnel curve hid him from sight.

"What was his deal?" Jade asked.

"He was your trainer and partner when you were just an agent. He's never seen you like this aside from pictures. It's quite the shock for us, and we've been through this before," Jackie explained. That made sense – she had had trouble wrapping her head around kid Jackie when she was sent back to the Seventies.

But cool! She met one of her mentors before she even met him, kind of. She never heard much about her time as an agent; maybe that guy taught her how to use a sword? Jade wondered over this and more as they drove into the depths of Section 13.

When they entered the underground parking garage the bearded Captain Black was waiting for them, he seemed to be aging well.

"Jackie, I hear you have a little problem?" Black commented as they parked.

"Hey!" Jade cried out opening her door, she took exception to a dig on her height. Captain Black looked her over appraisingly, as if checking for mistakes.

"You're sure this isn't a trick of some kind?" the Captain asked the uncles.

"You think Uncle can not spot a fake!" Uncle yelled in self righteous exasperation.

"Why don't you just call; adult me down here? She'll know," Jade suggested. She didn't miss the tension that went through the three adults.

"She's, out on an extended assignment.

"But Jackie I'm glad you're here. Torhu has confirmed their moving again tonight, we need all hands to figure out where before midnight," Captain Black announced. They were hiding something from her, that was clear. But it sounded like the game was afoot, so she would play along for now.

* * *

The conference room was no different than she remembered, aside from the fact they painted it a different color at some point. The agents and department heads droned with her family and Captain Black on the apparent crisis. It took real talent to make even the end of the world or whatever sound boring.

Jade was here because Captain Black predicted she would sneak in anyway, so why not just let her in where they could keep an eye on her? The man was finally learning it would seem.

She had snagged the folders from in front of Jackie and was looking through them to get an idea of what was going on. The problem was an outfit called the Cult of the Dragon Blade; she had never heard of them, so maybe they were a future thing.

A lot of lines in the file were blacked out, but she could see enough to be genuinely impressed. Grand heists, mystic terrorism, dominating the regular mafia for money and resources, smuggling… these guys where like a caned up Dark Hand. No, scratch that, the Dark Hand wasn't on the same level even at its height. These guys were trading blows with her mojoed Section 13 and giving it a good fight.

Their symbol was pretty badass – it was a golden Chinese dragon making a circle by biting its own tail, with a down thrust katanna superimposed over the image bisecting the dragon.

The second folder was profiles on known members of relevance. Strangers to her again, but then again these guys were mostly in High School or some such in her time. They looked badass though, with a mix of martial artists, wizards, and the odd technophile. She was interested to see a man with spiky black hair named Zhao Foo. Sure enough, his file named him as the nephew of Hak Foo. Awesome, she gets her own Foo to mess with! She wondered if he also had a thing for yelling out what he was doing?

She reached for the final folder, which had an even bigger classified stamp on it, but it was snatched away. Looking over, she saw Jackie holding it and fixing her with one of his best "you're too young for this" looks. Crossing her arms Jade pouted; she still didn't know who the big bad guy was and she would bet her allowance it was in that file. Then she noticed a snap shot laying face down on the white table; it must have fallen out of the folder.

Keeping one eye on Jackie who was talking with Wisker, she slid the photo back to her and slipped it into her lap flipping it over. This had to be the leader – it was a back shot, but still she held presence. It seemed to be a lady; a tall raven-haired bombshell had finally stepped up to bat. She was wearing a white leather jacket that contrasted sharply with the wild hair that hung down to her rear. Through the hair she could make out what was clearly the cult's symbol painted onto the jacket.

She was distracted from the picture as Captain Black drew everyone's attention to a wall map of the city with five Xs in a circle.

"Five incidents in five days, and we have no reason to believe it's over. Each incident occurred at midnight and set off dark chi flares into the sky and apparently underground. At each site our teams found remains of demolished rituals, apparently sacrifices involving the animal remains found burned at each site," Captain Black reiterated.

"These animals all are regarded as guardians in various belief systems, a ritual centered around their destruction bodes ill," Tohru rumbled.

"She could have removed the remains easily. She is taunting us, leaving clues deliberately," Uncle huffed. Jackie shot him a reproachful look, unnoticed by Jade as she looked at the copy of the map laid in front of Jackie. There was something… strange about it. Plucking the map and a pen, she began to trace as the talk continued.

"It makes a star!" she announced. She wasn't sure why, but she knew that was significant. She held it up for everyone to see.

"AI-YAH!" Uncle cried. In a second he was besides her, snatching the map and pen from her hands, and hastily drew a circle around the star making a pentagram, which he showed to those assembled.

"It is a sacrificial summoning ritual. Five sacrifices to weaken the barrier between planes, and a final one to rip the veil. The use of guardian totems as sacrifices means whatever they want to call has been sealed and they are releasing it," Uncle proclaimed.

"Any idea what?" Captain Black asked.

"No, but this is worse than you think," he drew a small circle around the point he had made in the center of the star, "This is where the final rite will take place, and every living thing outside this inner circle, and inside the outer circle, will be consumed by dark chi as payment for the summoning," he grimly declared. Everyone was silent as they realized the kill zone constituted more than half of San Francisco(1). Captain Black bolted to his feet along with Wisker and Jackie.

"Wisker, get our best teams prepped immediately, we cannot allow any margin for error, bring the big guns. Jackie, we'll need all of you on this; are up to it?" the Section 13 Chief demanded. Jackie seemed to waver – him waver, really waver – but glancing over to Jade he straightened up and nodded.

"Good, mobilize people!" Black cried as everyone rushed to their tasks, the clock ticking.

* * *

She'd wanted to come along, but as always they said no. She pointed out Black said he'd need them all, but no dice. She even tried to play up the fact she was the one to spot the big clue they all missed.

"Jade, please. Just this once, believe we know what's best. Stay here and stay safe," Jackie had gotten down on his knees to say it to her face. She didn't see his eyes, as she was glaring at the floor, wishing future her was here to let her help. Not that it stopped her; she still slipped into a car before it rolled out of the hidden garage.

In short order they arrived at the factory that was going to be ground zero for the cult. It wasn't even abandoned – apparently they seized control of it ninja style, without raising alarms. Non-cliché and cool, she was looking forward to dealing with this brand name of bad guy in the future.

It turned out the evil foreman in the light bulb factory was none other than Zhao Foo, who made a purposefully dramatic entrance when Section 13 got the collective drop on the Blade Cult's thugs. Namely, he dropped out of the rafters far above, flanked by two burly men who looked like Buddhist monks but wore black robes rather than the orange she was familiar with.

Rising to his feet he made a fairly standard "too late, fate is already sealed, yada yada, this is unexpected but will not change the outcome, etc," speech. Finally it got to the juicy part, people hitting people.

The thugs went down easy for the agents – only a few had any magic and Wisker alone was cutting any thug he came across down in no more than two moves. When would she start to tap this guy's mojo?

The "monks" were a different story, each of them keeping Tohru and Uncle occupied with what looked like a dark chi martial art. Zhao Fuu fought Jackie, and was on the same level as his uncle had been back in the day. Though there were differences – his spiky black hair was held back in a ponytail, and along with a clean-shaven face gave him a more orderly look. And while he still named his moves, he called them out after he did them. With his calm, collected, even tones he sounded like a sensei demonstrating moves to a pupil. Jade preferred the yelling; it was less patronizing.

Finally, Big T and Uncle got the better of their dance partners and Zhao retreated back to the candle-ridden array at the center of the room he had been keeping Jackie away from. He drew a fancy dagger, the handle naturally styled like a dragon, and looked over the agents and Chans with contempt. Slicing open his left palm, he raised the wound for them all too see.

"As I said, you win nothing dogs. I will activate the array with my _own_ blood and then the Lost Legion of Yomi will be mine to command as their liberator. I should thank you; those bald fools were here to ensure I didn't betray the Eminence, but now I shall - gaaah!" Zhao cried out as his monologue was interrupted. He fell forward, dropping the knife and clutching his knee on the floor. Revealing Jade standing behind his holding the blackjack she had gotten off one of the bad guys.

"Told you I should come along," she grinned. Uncle huffed; walking up to Zhao, he kicked him in the head, knocking him out before uncorking a bottle of glowing liquid that he spread over about a quarter of the arrays lines and symbols.

"It is bigger than Uncle thought, still dangerous, but not big trouble now," the elderly Chi wizard mused.

"Well this is a surprise," a woman's voice echoed thought the factory.

"She's here!" Wisker cried out in redundant warning. Everyone was back on their guard as Jackie grabbed her protectively under his arm.

"But I do so love surprises! The only danger I anticipated was Zhao making his own power play, yet here you all are ruining my carefully laid plan to bring Hell's rejects back to earth," the eerily familiar voice sounded in the deepening shadows. More of the black clad monks emerged, nearly a dozen, perched atop crates or in the rafters, others standing arms crossed on the walkways.

Finally a form draped in white emerged on a walkway overlooking them, and she recognized the voice.

Perhaps the angle was the reason, but she was taller than Jade remembered, the jacket open, revealing a black body suit underneath. It was short sleeved, she could tell because the jacket was being worn sleeveless, crossed arms tattooed with characters she didn't recognize. A mane of spiky hair fell over half the villain's face down past her waist, but it was still an unmistakable face.

Jade Chan, all grown up. Young Jade's mind screeched to a halt as the earlier lie fell into place, in confirming what she was seeing. Her attention must have been felt, as the one visible eye of the Eminent Leader of the Cult of the Dragon Blade swung down to Jackie's burden and lit up.

"Well if it isn't mini-me, I forgot I was still due one! No surprise though, the memory isn't what it used to be for trivial stuff. But let me guess, pleeeease! They had no idea, but you spotted than one obvious clue they missed and bang boom here we all are! This is just too good!" Jade laughed, grabbing the handlebar for support.

"What, nothing to say? I expected some kind of witty comeback, this is my reputation you're ruining too, you know!" the adult admonished the child. One of the agents fired at her, his gunshot resounding; Jade didn't even notice there was a sword at the adult hers waist, but nonetheless it flashed into her hand, deflecting the bullet with a clang.

It was the signal for round two as the agents and Uncle fired on the monks as the black robed men descended on the good guys. Jackie ran, dodging through the chaos with a shocked Jade in tow. She must have imagined Tohru snapping a dark monk's neck or Captain Black blowing another one's brains out after it punched an agent's head clean off.

What was not in doubt was the sight of Wisker and Adult Jade having a sword fight right out of Star Wars. His saber was aglow with green chi magic while her katanna seethed with purple dark energy. The strikes and bocks were confused blurs to her eyes as she kept trying to track them as Jackie tried to keep her alive. He did drop her, though she didn't see why, as she was too transfixed on the world tilting off its axis. She just stood up amidst the carnage, watching the man she didn't know and the woman she thought she knew try and kill each other, one grim the other ecstatic.

Zhao must have come to at this point and, not taking the time to notice opportunity had passed him by, used his bloody palm to activate the array. It flared like a sun, making everyone stop what they were doing.

"Zhao, you moron! It's broken and you still turn it on! ?" Adult Jade shrieked in annoyance. Black tendrils shot up amidst the rafters and began to split into smaller tendrils.

"Run, the flawed array will kill everything it can find in the inner circle!" Tohru cried from somewhere. Everyone proceeded to do just that, but Jade was preoccupied with staring at Wisker, standing alone on the platform, sword still ablaze. Where had she gone?

"Jade!" Jackie called out. She looked away from her future mentor and saw one of the tendrils bearing down on her. Did you know you can actually forget to panic sometimes? In this case it turned out panic wasn't warranted, as a burning purple sword sliced through the tendril and it vaporized as the fire covered it. Lacking her jacket, Adult Jade grabbed her younger self and started to leap about the crates back up to the walkways.

"JADE!" Jackie called out; to which one was a valid question.

"They'll be fine, we have to leave now!" Captain Black roared as he dragged his friend out of the factory.

* * *

The factory collapsed shortly after the Jades left it, not that they saw much of it as long legs carried them through a maze off alleyways. They arrived at a parking lot holding only a single black sedan and five of the monks. Four of them were from the battle, torn clothing and minor injuries showing their recent activities; the final one was dressed like a chauffeur but his build and stance betrayed his true vocation.

"Eminence, your orders?" one of the monks asked.

"We could handle starting over, but a botched unsealing only strengthens the seal. Probably will be a hundred years or so before anyone can try to free the Lost Legion again. So new plan time.

"If Zhao survived show him the price for failure, then bring him to me," Jade told them. Their smiles told Young Jade that Zhao's troubles tonight were just getting started. Apparently dismissed, the four battle ready monks leapt into the shadows, leaving Adult Jade to address the chauffeur monk.

"Chinatown Guan, you know the place," the villain told her chauffeur as she let herself into the back seat and tossed her younger self onto the seat next to her. Guan took his place in the driver's seat and set the car on its merry way.

The world passed by outside; Jade didn't look to the windows for a second. She had eyes only for the wild looking woman in black and white, whose face was yet again half veiled by ebony hair. Glancing over, her older self, the evil her, met her gaze, that same light dancing in the one visible eye regarding her with idle curiosity.

"What's on your mind mini-me?" Adult Jade asked.

"Why?" Jade whimpered, barely making the word coherent. For the first time the light left the Cult leader's eyes, as one tattooed hand pulled her errant hair back behind her ear. They were still foreign to her young gaze, but they were more familiar, holding an emptiness she had almost forgotten.

"Because it ended, our life, all of it ended.

"You saw some of it last time. I became what I wanted to be before I turned twenty. Under my lead, Section 13 became the first and best in mixing ancient and modern power to combat crime. By the time I was twenty-five I had more influence than Interpol or the President of the United States when it came to dealing with magic and crime or any combination.

"You won't believe it till it happens. It wasn't sudden, it did not just happen one day. It just came to a stop bit by bit, our whole life, everything we ever did and ever worked for just stopped being what it was. There was no more challenge, no more fun.

"There is actually a limit to ancient evil sealed away, or cults trying to take over stuff. We won, and kept winning until what was left of the Dark Forces dug themselves so deep into the ground the apocalypse would be needed to dig them out. The underworld is little better; since crime is a fact they had to play by more rules to keep in business, or lose even more.

"They say there is always a bigger fish, but the Earth isn't an ocean. It's a bound pond and once you're the biggest fish in it, there's nothing else. Every new threat was easy – I didn't need to even do it myself anymore with the agents so effective. Micromanaging was boring, no challenge left even in the field.

"It reached a point where the opposition changed from plotting my demise to courting me. Literally, in Hsi Wu's case. I stomped them of course, but still it was no good.

"We can't live without the adventure. That's something you should be starting to realize.

"When it all stopped, we did as well. It was survival, Jade. It was this or nothing. I was existing, not living. I reached the summit only to realize there was no more to strive for because I _had_ done it all. We need that thrill, that challenge to survive; it's our sustenance.

"We did what we had to do, I regret it but I'm not sorry.

"And it worked! My perfect system, my mentors and my students are all set against me and even thwarting me! I'm playing to win but rising from defeat has its own novelty, and it turns out I'm better than anything you have faced when it comes to this," she spoke, her tone shifting from brooding sadness to childish glee as only those who passed beyond morality or reason can. But for all that it was somehow clear she wasn't truly crazy, that she was not deluded so much as a strange breed of caring apathy.

"And what if it happens again! ?" Jade barked, heartbreak turning her sorrow to anger. The light came back to those eyes as the hair fell forward, obscuring much of the face that had once been so brave and innocent.

"You mean pull off the darkness triumphant deal? Hmm, well if that gets boring maybe I'd try being a hero again to mix things up," she pondered aloud, perfectly serious. What response can you give to that?

"This is your stop kid," Jade stated as the car came to a halt; they had arrived in Chinatown, she recognized it as being close to the shop. Numb, she let herself out but held the door open standing on the curb, watching what she would be.

"I won't," she stated with fierce determination. One eye turned to watch her, and finally it was her own.

"You will. You'll know what I mean. After all, you're me. And just like it ended for me, it's going to end for you, and you'll choose just what I did. It might not make sense now, you might swear you never will, but when it comes… you'll see," Jade may have shed a tear before she reached over and closed the door. As if the thud was a signal, the car screamed into motion, carrying Jade Chan off into the shadows of the city as the predawn light appeared in the heavens. And Jade Chan watched her go, not bothering to hold back her own tears.

With nothing else to do having cried herself dry, she walked towards the shop, her feet heavier than she could ever recall. She idly wondered if the key was in the same place, because otherwise…

It proved to be a non-issue, as silver light filled her hands and before she knew it covered her whole body. Once more, a flash and darkness, then pain and she landed on her back.

Disoriented, she glanced around, seeing the inside of Uncle's Rare Finds from her spot on the floor. The weight on her chest turned her attention to the magic clock pressed against it by her hands. The glow faded to nothing, and the hands returned to their proper place just as Uncle stormed in. He did not like what he saw.

"Jade! Do not be touching Uncle's magic artifacts!" he bellowed. Stomping over, he lifted the infernal device off of her and checked it for damage, only to notice something far more wrong.

"Jade? Have you been crying? Are you hurt?" he asked, his tone softening. She got up without answering, looking to the clock and half expecting to see a reflection that was and wasn't hers in the moon.

"No, I'm alright, just a little fall," she lied, before dashing out of the room. Uncle watched her, his expression pensive. He glanced down at the clock in his hands, suspicion tugging at his thoughts. But he dismissed it; this was an enigma that warranted watching, but he would hardly call it dangerous. Placing it back on its shelf, he returned the glass cover and dusted it off a bit before gong to make sure his niece was alright.

_"The true infamy of the Burning Moon Clock is not that no one has ever unlocked its mysteries. For in truth, each person who has truly sought to find its secret has done so, and beheld their fate. Without exception they have learned the meaning of the clock's face – the moon symbolizes dreams, and in burning they are destroyed. Shown they are fated to lose their dreams, all lied and cast it aside, forgetting or secretly fighting the fate they possess."_

**END**

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**1)._ Yes I read/watch FMA._**

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